Companion site to Creating Digital History (NYU GA HIST.2033)

Historic American Buildings Survey

If you are looking for information about a particular building in Greenwich Village, the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), located at the Library of Congress, is a great resource. Starting out in 1933 as a WPA project that created employment for architects, photographers, and draftspeople, the project documented the United States’ historic landscape through photographs and measured drawings. The project represented a new direction for the preservation movement; instead of just choosing to highlight grand houses associated with the founding fathers or the upper class, HABS documented vernacular architecture and working class history.

At the HABS website, you can search by a building’s name or address. However, the search function is a bit clunky. Try different ways of writing out the address– 14 East Fourth Street instead of 14 E. 4th St., for example. You can also browse by building type or region. If your building is in the database, you will be rewarded with gorgeous black-and-white photos and detailed architectural drawings.